TY - JOUR
T1 - Musings on the wanderer
T2 - What's new in our understanding of vago-vagal reflexes? II. Integration of afferent signaling from the viscera by the nodose ganglia
AU - Browning, Kirsteen N.
AU - Mendelowitz, David
PY - 2003/1/1
Y1 - 2003/1/1
N2 - To understand vago-vagal reflexes, one must have an appreciation of the events surrounding the encoding, integration, and central transfer of peripheral sensations by vagal afferent neurons. A large body of work has shown that vagal afferent neurons have nonuniform properties and that distinct subpopulations of neurons exist within the nodose ganglia. These sensory neurons display a considerable degree of plasticity; electrophysiological, pharmacological, and neurochemical properties have all been shown to alter after peripheral tissue injury. The validity of claims of selective recordings from populations of neurons activated by peripheral stimuli may be diminished, however, by the recent demonstration that stimulation of a subpopulation of nodose neurons can enhance the activity of unstimulated neuronal neighbors. To better understand the neurophysiological processes occurring after vagal afferent stimulation, it is essential that the electrophysiological, pharmacological, and neurochemical properties of nodose neurons are correlated with their sensory function or, at the very least, with their specific innervation target.
AB - To understand vago-vagal reflexes, one must have an appreciation of the events surrounding the encoding, integration, and central transfer of peripheral sensations by vagal afferent neurons. A large body of work has shown that vagal afferent neurons have nonuniform properties and that distinct subpopulations of neurons exist within the nodose ganglia. These sensory neurons display a considerable degree of plasticity; electrophysiological, pharmacological, and neurochemical properties have all been shown to alter after peripheral tissue injury. The validity of claims of selective recordings from populations of neurons activated by peripheral stimuli may be diminished, however, by the recent demonstration that stimulation of a subpopulation of nodose neurons can enhance the activity of unstimulated neuronal neighbors. To better understand the neurophysiological processes occurring after vagal afferent stimulation, it is essential that the electrophysiological, pharmacological, and neurochemical properties of nodose neurons are correlated with their sensory function or, at the very least, with their specific innervation target.
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U2 - 10.1152/ajpgi.00322.2002
DO - 10.1152/ajpgi.00322.2002
M3 - Article
C2 - 12488231
AN - SCOPUS:0037229759
SN - 0193-1857
VL - 284
SP - G8-G14
JO - American Journal of Physiology - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology
JF - American Journal of Physiology - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology
IS - 1 47-1
ER -